


Fire and Ice

by fredbassett



Category: Arthur of the Britons
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:40:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fredbassett/pseuds/fredbassett
Summary: A snowstorm creates a problem for Arthur and Kai on a journey.
Relationships: Arthur/Kai
Kudos: 2





	Fire and Ice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [trepkos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/trepkos/gifts).



“Are we going to ride until we freeze to death, or are you going to accept that we need to find shelter and see if we can kindle fire?”

Kai had to shout to be heard above the wind, but he knew that if he did not at least keep his tone level, Arthur would just get even more stubborn and insist they pressed on to the village. The news they carried was urgent, but not urgent enough to be worth dying for.

Arthur reined in his horse and turned, his eyes screwed up against the driving snow. “We risk the horses by continuing. We need shelter.”

Kai resisted the impulse to remind Arthur that he had been saying exactly that since the snow had started falling. “If we can get to the cliff, there will be shelter for us and the horses in the caves.”

Arthur nodded and turned his horse to the west.

****

The thin line of the trees broke up the force of the wind, but the branches groaned ominously under the increasing load of snow. The light was fading fast and by the time they reached the cliff edge even their normally sure-footed horses were starting to stumble over fallen wood and rock, now disguised by a heavy blanket of white snow.

The shadowed darkness of the cave entrance came as a welcome relief. Kai slid off his horse and led the animal into the shelter. Once inside, he loosened the girth, but left the sheepskin saddle on to provide some measure of warmth. While the light lasted, they needed to gather any dry wood they could find and make a fire. The entrance area was strewn with twigs dropped from the nearby trees as well as a few larger branches. Kai hated using his axe for chopping wood, but he had little choice.

He shook as much snow as possible from his fur cloak, stamping hard in a vain attempt to bring some feeling back into his feet. Without a word, Arthur gathered rocks and built a stone circle for the fire while Kai dealt with the wood.

“If we can get this to light, we should count ourselves fortunate,” he said, sitting cross-legged on the dry floor three body lengths back to the cave where the roof lowered to just over head height. He hoped a narrow crack in the rock above would draw the smoke upwards.

“Since when have you ever failed to light a fire?” Arthur drawled, pulling his cloak around him and making an unsuccessful attempt to stop his teeth knocking together with cold.

“Do something useful, get the blankets. Your cloak is soaked, and if we’re not careful, we’ll freeze our arses off.”

“Mine is already numb,” Arthur admitted, removing the brooch pin from his sodden woollen cloak and shrugging off its heavy folds.

At first, Kai thought he would fail to live up to his friend’s expectations, then a spark from his tinderbox caught some of the dry moss he always carried in his pouch and with a gentle breath he fanned the small red glow. Then as the thinnest twigs showed signs of catching, Kai stretched out on the cold, stony ground and blew steadily until he was sure the fire would stay alight.

Even with the blanket pulled tightly around him, Arthur was now shivering badly, his hands stretched out to gain what warmth he could from the small blaze. “We should have sought shelter sooner.”

“We should,” Kai agreed, smiling into the darkness. “You were as stubborn as an old badger.”

He slipped his arm around Arthur’s shoulders and pulled him into the warmth of his thick cloak. Arthur was unusually pliant, something that always gave Kai cause for concern. In the darkness, he took hold of Arthur’s hands and rubbed them hard, doing his best to drive out the cold. Sharing their body’s warmth would help, and provided Kai stayed awake to tend the fire, he was confident they would get through the night and when the storm abated, they would reach the village safely.

“You were unusually reticent.”

“I know you well enough to be sure that the harder I’d pushed, the more you would have been determined to press on.” Kai allowed the silence to stretch between them, as taut as a bowstring, then he said, “Besides, I knew we were drawing close to the cliff. If you had tried to insist on riding further, things might have been different…”

Arthur turned his head, warm breath raising the hairs on Kai’s cheek. “Different how…?”

Kai silenced him with a kiss, his lips working against Arthur’s. In a heartbeat, Arthur tilted his head, allowing Kai’s tongue to slip between his lips, but there the quiescence ended. Arthur kissed with the same intensity he brought to any activity, the intensity that made him such a good leader of men. Kai fought for dominance, but then lost himself in the moment, knowing that they need not care who might see them, that all that mattered was shared heat, born of a friendship that had grown into something more, something much, much more.

Arthur’s cold hand entangled itself in wet hair, tugging Kai’s head back so that he could nuzzle the sensitive hollow at the base of his neck. The cold still surrounded them like an unwelcome guest, but the heat of the kiss had put an end to Arthur’s shivering, and Kai could feel warmth spreading low in his belly. Arthur’s hand slipped down to cup him through his damp breeches. He was already hard, and the contact drew a moan of pleasure from him. Kai reached out to return the favour. The angle was awkward, and it was hard to set up a rhythm, but then the ease born of long practice took over and they were soon trading wet, open-mouthed kisses, chasing the fire inside with strong fingers.

Kai could feel the heat pooling low inside him now, sending bright sparks of pleasure dancing along every nerve then, carried on the tide of pleasure, he gasped and let his head fall to Arthur’s shoulder. A shudder told him that Arthur had hit his own climax a moment later.

Kai kissed Arthur’s forehead. “You sleep first, I’ll tend the fire.”

Arthur murmured something in response, more than half asleep already, and stretched out on the blanket. Kai draped the other one around him. He would sleep now while Kai watched the flickering flames. For the remainder of the night, Arthur would have no other responsibilities to claim him.

The following day, he would be a chieftain again, but that night, he was Kai’s, and Kai’s alone.


End file.
